fit-IoT Users Forum

The basic Windows 8 graphics driver runs in 1024x768, but has all the direct X attributes, meaning hardware acceleration. If you are willing to use that driver on a 4:3 screen, then even Windows 8 apps and streaming video from your North American distributor work. If Microsoft ever issued a full version of the graphics driver, this would be a very interesting 16:9 system. Definitely use the heat sink if you want reliable operation.

The above appears to be true for Windows 7 also. If you use the basic W7 graphics driver in 1024x768, streaming videos from the North American distributor work fine. The minute you install the emgd driver, even at 1024x768, the videos from the North American distributor stop working. If one of you influential guys passes this on to the North American distributor, maybe they will fix this.

So, suppose you subscribe to all the latest cumulative updates with the above setup, then install the gma500 driver (emgd doesn't work) and, after testing for best results, go to an intermediate almost 16:9 resolution: Then, the performance test still crashes. However, the built-in basic apps do not crash any more. So, you can view the news in full screen and even update the apps to their latest (free) versions.

Outline of what to do with a few minor details omitted.

Anyone want to see the dmesg trace for the z550 running Linux kernel 3.7.1? That's the kernel in AbsoluteLinux, this being pick and choose season.

I have to say that, if you disable the gma500 adaptor in the device manager, then the system reverts to 4:3 and the generic Microsoft driver, which then obviously yields much better video acceleration than the gma500. Note that 4:3 streaming video is full screen both ways.

The very latest Windows 8 installation DVD supports both the gma500 and the iemgd Windows 7 drivers, one at a Time, of course. I have been testing the iemgd driver on the latest Windows 8. If you let the system choose the compatibility settings, you get a Windows XP installation, with hardware-accelerated display and software decoding. If you force the system to install it as a Windows 7 driver, you get hardware decoding and software something or another. Personally, I think the Windows XP installation works better, with some streaming drivers finding the hardware decoding, secretly.

Note that earlier Windows 8 OEM installation DVDs only support the gma500.

See for yourself whether you like it.

So far, Windows 8 updates and all, I have a very stable installation of Windows 8 on the z550, using the iemgd driver from Windows 7 running in default Windows XP mode, and with the heatsink tightly on. I mean that a secondary app runs at full speed while the system is being updated, and there is no "jitter". Lack of jitter is also related to running the graphics at less then "recommended resolution", in this case, at 1360x768.

This is probably the lowest power Intel system that runs Windows 8 fairly well, full-screen with lipsync and continuous, or nearly continuous, motion. I suspect that the z530 with 2gb of ram would do almost as well, and I am toying with the theory that the z510 with 2gb of ram would surprise us all.

One reason that the Windows 8 installer has improved is that it sends feedback to Microsoft HQ when something crashes or fails to work. So, Microsoft improved the installer. Now all I need is for the installer to accept Windows XP sound drivers, which is still not a feature.

It is painfully clear that the 2gb ram is a must for Windows 8 to function, since the Windows 8 performance meter shows it using 0.9 out of 2.0 gb of ram in basic operation.

I keep getting the intuition that the hostile edges of the fit-pc2 heat sink were responsible for your not selling more of the fit-pc2 units than you did. I mean, rounding the heatsink fins, both front and back as an ethical measure and a statement of concern for users' well being.

Thanks for the valuable in-depth research on the SW capabilities of fit-PC.

I keep getting the intuition that the hostile edges of the fit-pc2 heat sink were responsible for your not selling more of the fit-pc2 units than you did. I mean, rounding the heatsink fins, both front and back as an ethical measure and a statement of concern for users' well being.

Actually, both fit-PC2 and the heatsink are seeing robust sales. The heatsink was not originally planned for home users since fit-PC2 works stable without it. The heatsink was designed mostly for industrial applications where low cost and performance are a preference over design quality.

If you check the ribs of Intense PC and fit-PC3 you will see that the feedback does not fall on deaf ears.

I think you will find that using the heat sink is a factor in the stability of the software in a desktop environment for the z550 and z530.